NBA Finals Game Seven Does 18.9 Overnight Rating

By
( )
published

Sunday’s NBA Finals Game 7 drew an 18.9 overnight rating, according to Nielsen, good for the highest rated NBA game ever on ABC, and the highest rated sports telecast on ABC or ESPN since 2006. The previous ratings record was Game 7 between Los Angeles and Boston in 2010, at 18.2.

The telecast peaked at a 25.5 rating from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m., and the game was the most watched NBA contest on WatchESPN, with 96 million total minutes streamed.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the game, and the title, versus the Golden State Warriors. The game did a 46.3 in the Cleveland market and a 39.4 rating in San Francisco.

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.